1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image extracting method, an image extracting apparatus, and a program for implementing the method, and more particularly, to an image extracting method for extracting a predetermined number of images from a plurality of images, an image extracting apparatus, and a program for implementing the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, photographs taken with a camera have been arranged in photo albums for viewing. Within the photo albums the photos are arranged according to one category or another, for example a record of a child's growth, and arranged roughly in chronological order, permitting viewers to view the photographs and steep themselves in memories.
If the camera is a silver halide camera, that is, a conventional film camera, then photographs are obtained by developing a positive film or a negative film obtained by photographing and printing the images onto photographic printing paper. Ordinarily, the viewer then selects photographs he/she likes, from the silver halide photographs, that is, the film photographs, obtained in this manner and arranges them by pasting them into the photo album by hand.
On the other hand, in recent years digital still cameras have become common. With a digital still camera, photographs taken en masse are stored as image data and poor or unfavorable image data can be erased on the spot. It should be noted that the image data includes image data that is digitalized by developing negative film or positive film using a scanner. By storing image data obtained in this manner on a personal computer or the like, a large amount of image data can be managed with ease, enabling one to print only those photographs that one likes.
Further, ink jet printers capable of outputting image data of the same quality as photographs have continued to come down in price, and ink jet printers have also come to be equipped with a so-called borderless print function capable of printing over the entire surface of the paper. Such changes in the environment have made it possible to enjoy home printing easily.
Moreover, software for the creation of photo albums for managing image data as an electronic photo album on a personal computer is now commercially available. Such photo album software has capabilities that are only available with digitalized data, for example, the capability to freely change the size of the photograph, to trim it and/or to attach comments. Further, using commercially available image management software, the photos can be displayed on the monitor of a personal computer using a so-called slideshow function or the like.
Further, various functions that are not available easily with a film photograph or photo album can be realized simply and extremely easily with digitalized image data and electronic photo albums, and there are endless possibilities as regards their editing. That is, when the photographs are image data, for example, the size of the photographs can be changed, particular areas of the photographs can be trimmed, the arrangement of the photographs on the pages of an electronic photo album can be changed, an effective background can be set for each such page, effective frames can be added to the photographs, the photographs can be rotated to any angle on the page, the photographs can be given a sepia tone special effect, and so on.
However, because digital still cameras can photograph an extremely large number of photographs compared to conventional film cameras, and that image data can be managed using a personal computer or the like, it can be time-consuming to arrange such large amounts of image data, and consequently selecting image data to be extracted for the purpose of creating a photo album can be difficult, making for poor user operability.
Moreover, storing photographs as image data, although it allows the user to view the photographs on the display monitor via a slideshow function or the like, cannot be said to permit one to steep oneself in memories the same way as looking at a photo album into which photographs have been pasted by hand might do, because the very act of pasting the photographs into the photo album by hand gives one a sense of reverence for that photo album.
Moreover, simply arranging a large number of photographs in chronological order in an electronic photo album allows the inclusion of poor or unfavorable photographs as well, and cannot be said to make maximum effective use of the advantages offered by digitalization. On the other hand, looking at each and every photograph among photographs corresponding to a large amount of image data can be a very time-consuming operation, making for poor user operability.
Moreover, with digitalized image data, despite having unlimited possibilities as noted above, the number of photographs corresponding to that image data is very much greater than the number of film photographs and therefore the process of selecting photographs can pose a very high hurdle, and consequently the process of creating an electronic photo album can require more time and effort than the conventional photo album, making for poor user operability.